Strengthening trilateral cooperation, Yoon departs again for trip to UK, France.

President Yoon Seok-yeol is set to depart again on the 20th to visit the United Kingdom and France, just a day after returning from San Francisco, United States, where he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Having strengthened the tripartite cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan at APEC, President Yoon is determined to focus on strengthening cooperation in advanced industries and the 2030 World Expo in Busan during his visits to the UK and France.

President Yoon, who returned home on the night of the 18th, received a report on domestic issues such as the suspension of public agency services for the public on the 19th and ordered, “Take more certain and accurate measures to prevent further inconvenience to the people.” The President had previously instructed from the U.S. to “immediately operate a government joint task force to respond quickly.” The Presidential Office has formed a task force involving various ministries, led by Cyber Security Secretary Yoon Oh-jun, to respond.

President Yoon further strengthened the tripartite cooperation of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan through the APEC summit. Following separate three-way meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, he also held the seventh South Korea-Japan summit with Prime Minister Kishida this year. The day after the summit, he deepened cooperation in the hydrogen and startup sectors between the two countries through lectures at Stanford University and meetings with startup officials.

The three countries of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan also announced a strategy to unite in the fields of original and advanced industries, AI and digital, and carbon reduction in science and technology. President Yoon said, “The three countries of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will immediately start discussions to discover and promote joint projects in the field of original advanced technology.”

He also met with global entrepreneurs such as Apple CEO Tim Cook and General Motors (GM) Vice Chairman Sivan Amin, and requested cooperation with our companies. GM mentioned our government’s regulatory reform and system improvement, and announced that it will increase domestic production. Apple CEO Cook also arranged a separate meeting at the request of President Yoon and emphasized that he will “continue to cooperate and invest so that capable Korean companies can grow.”

At the multilateral diplomatic stages such as the APEC summit and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) summit, he emphasized the need to build an early warning system to resolve the supply chain instability and strengthen the linkage of countries in the region. He also revealed our country’s role and contribution plans to utilize zero-carbon energy, convert to eco-friendly vehicles, and resolve climate disparity.

However, the anticipated South Korea-China summit did not materialize.

President Yoon will make a state visit to London, UK, from the 20th to the 23rd for three nights and four days at the invitation of King Charles III. President Yoon is the first state guest invited by King Charles after his coronation this year. The two leaders will discuss ways to strengthen strategic cooperation in digital and AI, cyber security, nuclear power, defense, bio, space, semiconductors, offshore wind power, clean energy, and more.

He will then move to Paris, France, for a four-day, two-night itinerary on the 23rd. He plans to express our strong will and readiness for the 2030 Busan World Expo and to put all efforts into the final negotiation for the Expo. The final presentation (PT) and voting of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) will take place on the 28th.

Reporter Ang Young-guk ang@etnews.com